N. Galashaw Wilson High School

2019-2020

English III Course Syllabus

2019-2020 Academic School Year

Course Requirements/Expectations:

To ensure successful completion of this course, all students are expected to report to class

equipped, on time, prepared, and ready to work. Textbooks will be distributed and should be

brought to class as directed. All students are expected to complete assignments on time. It is the

responsibility of each individual to obtain any and all assignments missed due to absence or illness.

Students who have missed assignments due to excused absences will be given 5 school days upon

return, to complete and hand in missing work. Questions regarding this information may be

directed to Nicole.C.Galashaw@fsd1.org.

To accentuate content saliency and to promote student engagement, Units may be augmented and

supplemented with a variety of information in both print and non-print format. Instructional

tutorials, informational videos, content specific movies, excerpts and clips will also be

incorporated at the discretion of the instructor to enhance materials and concepts covered. Concept

Reviews in the form of quizzes will be given consistently to assess student understanding and

cumulative exams will be given at the completion of each unit. To help prepare students to meet

the demands of a highly technological and global world, students will be assigned applicable

research projects. Students will be given access to the Media Center and the world-wide-web on

campus to complete these assignments.

Upon evaluation, unit scheduling and/or order is subject to modification as necessary to

accommodate time, skill mastery, and student comprehension.

Notes for English classes are available upon request. Similarly, information is updated weekly on

our High School website.

Interim reports will be given at intervals for parents/guardians to monitor student progress.

Power School is available and may be accessed via the internet.

Grades are updated weekly.

N. Galashaw

English Instructor

Wilson High School

Academic School Year 2019-2020

N. Galashaw Wilson High School

2019-2020

English III lessons are organized into Six Units and three components of Extended Study.

Prelude to textbook study:

Essential Questions in American Literature

1. What makes American Literature American?

2. What is the relationship between literature and place?

3. How does literature shape or reflect society?

The Promise and Paradox of America The Native American Experience: 0-1400- From “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” to “The Canary Effect” Unit 1:New World Literature of Early America: 1400-1800 –

A Gathering of Voices Meeting of Cultures The Puritan Influence A Nation is Born

Students read an historical overview of the period as well as informational period text. Examples of expository text help students understand the viewpoints and ideologies of the times.

Authors represented in this chapter include Cabeza de Vaca, Anne Bradstreet, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, and Phillis Wheatley.

Students also study synonyms and nuances of word meaning.

Unit 2: America’s Voice: A Growing Nation 1800-1850

Literature of the American Renaissance

Fireside and Campfire Shadows of the

imagination The Human Spirit and

the Natural World American Masters:

Poetry

Students study the period in order to understand important events, ideas, and themes that influenced the literature of this period.

Featured literature includes: “The Devil and Tom Walker”; an excerpt from “Self-Reliance”; essays from “Walden”; Thoreau; poems by Longfellow, Dickinson, and Whitman; “The Minister’s Black Veil”; and works by Frederick Douglas and Sojourner Truth.

Unit 3: Division, Reconciliation, and Expansion, Realism, Frontier: 1850-1914 Literature of the Civil War and the Frontier:

A Nation Divided Forging New Frontiers Living in a Changing

World

N. Galashaw Wilson High School

2019-2020

– Students analyze the events and ideals of the period and their effect on fiction. Students examine the author’s use of language and in addition, study the use of multiple word meanings and idioms in fiction.

Unit 4: Disillusion, Defiance, and Discontent, Depression, Reform: 1914-1945

Literature of the Modern Age

Facing Troubled Time From Every Corner of

the Land The Harlem Renaissance

– Students consider the Great Depression and its effect on literature. Students analyze a chronological text structure and the use of flashbacks. They compare theme, structure, and clarity in paired passages from different works

Poetry by Langston Hughes, and Zora Neale Hurston

Poetry of Cultural Identity: Lucille Clifton, Colleen McElroy, Claude McKay, Arna Bontemps, Countee Cullen

Students analyze an expository text on careers and compensation and build vocabulary through analogies.

Unit 5: Prosperity and Protest: The Modern Age 1945-1970

Literature of the Post-War Era: Experiment and Conflict

War Shock Tradition and Rebellion Literature of Protest

Students analyze imagery and symbolism in the modern age. Students discuss media in the modern age and compare information presented using different types of media.

This unit includes literary works by: Baldwin, Morrison, Kennedy, and King.

Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun”, and Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible”.

Supplements include excerpts from Nelson Mandela

Unit 6: Contemporary America: New Voices, New Frontiers: 1970-Present

Literature of the Contemporary Period:

Contemporary Fiction Contemporary Poetry Contemporary

Nonfiction

Students read about the events and culture of this volatile period. Students examine story structure,

N. Galashaw Wilson High School

2019-2020

epiphany as a literary device, and the characteristics of allegory.

Students analyze a variety of literary works after learning about the events and culture of the period.

Students explore postmodern story structure and poetry and inductive and deductive reasoning in nonfiction.

Students consider bias in media. Literary texts for the unit include Julia Alvarez, Alice Walker, Li-Young Lee, Naomi Shihab Nye, Cofer, H.L. Mencken, Amy Tan, Rita Dove, N. Scott Momaday.

Vocabulary study includes categorization and salient features. Vocabulary study also focuses on word origins and cognates.

Extended Study:

1. Novel Study – Students will read One or more of the following:

Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”

Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Scarlett Letter

Nelson Mandela’s “The Long Walk to Freedom”.

Students explore character development, subplots, recurring motif, climax, and resolution in the novel.

Students write an analytical essay in response to what they have read and learned.

2. Writing – Students write a college application essay. Students work through different stages of the writing process as they complete their essay prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.

Students also consider and practice different types of writing: persuasive, descriptive, narrative, reflective, analytical, and response to literature.

3. Research – Students complete a research paper. Legal and ethical research practices regarding plagiarism and copyright are discussed in depth.

Lessons focus on the steps involved in completing a research project including: topic and plan, finding sources, note taking and organizing, evaluating and synthesizing, and citations and documentation.

Upon evaluation, unit scheduling and/or

order is subject to modification as

necessary to accommodate time, skill

mastery, and student comprehension.

N. Galashaw 2019-2020

Research Unit 6

Unit Objectives:

Students will read several works on a particular

topic, paraphrase ideas, synthesize ideas from

other author’s, and summarize findings.

Students will utilize Media Center, Internet, and

Reference and Circulatory texts as sources of

information to conduct research on applicable

topics.

Research will be interjected throughout the

course and implementation of each unit.

Students will conduct research consistently in

connection with each unit.

Research assignments are subjective to

instructor’s discretion.

Please note: All Unit order and content coverage

are subject to alterations and modifications at

instructor’s discretion.

Elements of Research include:

Research Sources

Primary

Secondary

Relevant

Accurate

Unbiased

Biased

Print and Non-print

Research Elements Continued:

Plagiarism

Bibliography

Paraphrase

Summarize

Cite

Parenthetical Citation

Evaluate

Clarify

Refine

Additional Unit Objectives:

Students will incorporate all skills acquired

throughout the course of English III study to

create and complete a 5-8 page Research

Paper as a culminating assessment in

conclusion with this unit.

Students will conduct research dependently

and independently on and off campus.

Students will investigate all aspects of a

topic including various viewpoints regarding

it.

Students will evaluate the credibility of

resources including consideration of

accuracy and bias.

Students will gather information in

relevance to research question/topic.

N. Galashaw 2019-2020

Additional Elements to be incorporated within Units:

Test Preparation:

Students will learn skills and strategies gained through this course to assist with the passing of

standardized exams. The objectives of each Unit are designed to meet the SC Standards and

Career and College Readiness include: Writing, Critical thinking skills, reading comprehension,

writing as a form of communication, and research skills.

Word Analysis :

Student reading comprehension is greatly affected by the ability to recognize and understand

difficult words. Students will use word analysis and context clues to determine the meaning of

unfamiliar or multiple meaning words.

Students will use a general dictionary and/or thesaurus.

Students will differentiate between connotative and denotative definitions and descriptions.

Please note: Students will also be required to complete either a winter break, or spring break assignment in this class This will encompass extensive reading and in-depth research along with the completion of a formal assessment.

For extended study, analysis and reinforcement students will also complete:

Student Compilation Workbook

Close Reader Notebook